A Sun That Doesn't Burn Hot
by stylish-kid-in-the-riot
Summary: Lucifer burns cold, so when it gets really cold Sam hallucinates more. What happens when the heating stops working at the cabin they are staying at?


**A/N**- This was written as a prompt fill for the OhSam Comment Fic Meme by (See the prompt below)

_Season 7. Lucifer burns cold, right? So when it gets really cold Sam hallucinates way more. And the motel/cabin/whatever Sam and Dean are staying in has broken/non-existent heating. Cue Dean desperately trying to get Sam warm and keep him from thinking he's being tortured._

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><p>They've been staying in this cabin for a couple of nights now, it's another one of Rufus' hideaways, they found the address for it in his house when they had been looking through the dead hunters books and notes. They decided to go there because they needed somewhere to just take a break for a few days after Bobby died. They had to get away from everything, and the signs of Leviathans that seemed to crop up everywhere they went. Combine those two reasons with Sams latest hell induced breakdown and it gave Dean the perfect time to suggest taking a break for a week. Sam had been hesitant, insisting that he was fine, and that he could handle it, and really they "need to keep working now Dean". Dean in turn had insisted that he needed the break as much as Sam did, and that it would do them both the world of good to hide away from the world for a week, "Besides Sam, the world isn't gonna end if we take some time off. They're still working out their master plan".<p>

It had been a quiet two days where the brothers had indulged in their favorite pass times, Sam with taking early morning runs around woods and reading up on folk lore and stories about the Leviathans. Dean told him on the first day "Jesus Sam, it's meant to be a break, that means no research...".

True to form, Dean spent most of his free time lying on the couch eating junk food and watching TV. "You know the best part about this place?" Dean asked his brother "The kitchen is literally within an arms reach of this couch. I mean look at this..." he broke of as he reached over the back of the couch onto the counter that it back onto, grabbing a packet of Fritos before settling back onto the couch. Sam rolled his eyes as he left the cabin to go for another run.

It was on the second night around 10pm that the heating stopped working, they tried checking the boiler and the fuses but nothing worked. Dean suggested going out back to collect more firewood that he'd noticed all chopped up, but Sam had said it was better to leave it until the morning as it was pitch black outside, "I mean, we're in the middle of a freaking forest, it can wait till tomorrow morning. We'll just have an early night". The fire was stocked well enough for the morning so they could start that up and then get more. They went to bed around 11 that night, both enjoying having a rare room to themselves instead of being in each others face practically all day, every day.

**A few hours later**

Sam wakes up and checks the bedside clock, it reads 3am. His throat is dry and he curses himself out for not getting the usual glass of water before going to bed. _'Oh well'_ he thinks as he pushes the covers aside and makes his way out of his room and down the hall. The wooden floor feels cold beneath his feet, _'It's almost like...'_ he stops that thought before it can even begin to finish forming, it won't lead him to any place that's good. _'Just get the water and go back to bed'_. As Sam enters the open plan kitchen/living room he feels the cold air on his bare arms now. _'Should have put on a sweater_he reflects as he walks over to the sink, repeating to himself that it'll be fine, all he has to do is get the water and go back to the warmth of his bed. Since he got his memories back, he's always made sure to avoid being too cold, and where he runs the risk of feeling cold, he makes sure to wear extra layers, it doesn't always help, but most of the time it helps to keep the hallucinations at bay.

_"Sssaammmm"_ he hears the faint voice, but he shakes his head to dismiss it. He's not going down this road, not at 3am in the morning. He fills the glass with the water that first runs out of the cold tap, he never leaves the tap running to get the really cold water anymore. Sam turns around is met by Lucifer who is standing right behind him. Sam startles a little and the wet glass falls out of his hand and shatters on the floor, the cold water gathering in a pool around his feet. It only serves to make him feel even more cold. The hallucination grins and greets Sam _"Hello Sam"_.

Sam takes a deep breath and defiantly tells the hallucination "You're not real". He's still standing face to face with Lucifer and he can feel himself start to shiver as the cold combined the water at his feet begin to have effect.

Raising an eyebrow, Lucifer asks with sympathy and regret lacing his voice _"Does it really make a difference now? I can hurt you all the same"_. He winks at the end of his statement to Sam.

"Yes. It does." Sam steps to the side and the hallucination holds it's hands up in mock defeat. Sam begins to walk away, only to step into more water and slip on the tiles of the kitchen floor. He falls and his arm lands on top of a piece of broken glass.

Lucifer kneels down beside Sam and leans in, whispering in Sams ear _"I told you I could hurt you just the same."_He kisses Sams cheek and stands up.

Sam is breathing fast, while looking at the piece of glass embedded in his arm he's thinking _'Makeitstopmakeitstop, the pain usually makes it stop. Why won't he go away'_

Lucifer reads his thoughts and replies _"It won't because I'm real Sam."_after he fixes Sam with a glare, he starts walking around the kitchen.

"No." Sam shakes his head and stands up, he forgets about his arm and the pain spikes when he pushes himself up.

Lucifer nods and simply says "Yes" as he walks around the room as looks around it. He stops and his gaze focuses in on Sams arm, he nods to the wound and says "You may wanna take care of that." With that, the hallucination disappears just as quickly as he appeared.

Sams eyes dart around the room, and another fresh spike of pain draws his attention back to his arm _'damn'_. He moves over to the sink and runs the cold tap, not caring about the cold this time as he run his arm under it. He pulls his arm out from under the flow, pleased to note that the glass hasn't penetrated too deep, its only just stuck under the surface. As he pulls it out the wound starts bleeding again, and he put his arm back under the water. He's still shivering slightly as he turns the water off, grabbing a towel from the counter he pats his arm dry. As he turns to walk back to his room, Lucifer appears right in his path once again.

_"Thought I was gone huh?"_ the hallucination asks, and moving it's hand to it's head, it taps it's finger on the side of it's head and says _"Oh, I'm always up here Sammy"_.

"Go away" Sam says as he side steps Lucifer to walk away, but Lucifer steps in the same direction, blocking his path. The hallucination shakes it's head, smiling. Sam tries to swallow the panic that he can feel rising "I said, move. I'm not doing this."

_"You are doing this though..."_ tilting his head to the side, studying Sam intently. He disappears again and Sam can feel the cold really setting in now, his feet are freezing and it's still sending shivers through his body. He takes a breath and Lucifer appears beside him, mouth to his ear as he whispers _"It's always at times like this that you find it difficult to know where you are. But let me ask you this Sammy..."_

"...It's Sam." Sam corrects the hallucination.

_'Fine. Sam. Let me ask you this. Where else is it this cold? Where else did you always think you'd made it, only for it to grow cold like this and then it all turns to gray... fades away like it never was...?"_

"No... I-I... It's not..." Sam struggles to make sense of things. Lucifer is correct in what he's saying, that is how it usually happened when they played this game of 'Make Sam think he's escaped and then draw him right back in'. He feels like he's escaped, and he's been with Dean for a hell of a long time in this one... _'he can't be right, this isn't happening'_. Surely he wouldn't go to such detail as making it so that he'd been topside without his soul, only for everything to go steadily downhill when he got his soul back. _'Son of a bitch'._It all makes perfect sense now.

"You asshole!" Sam says in a quiet voice that also carries the anger that he feels.

_"There we go"_ Lucifer says as he smiles at Sam. _"Welcome back"_he greets as he moves toward the door that leads to the hallway.

Sam grabs a knife from the knife rack that is coincidentally next to him on the counter. He throws it at where Lucifer is standing waiting for him, but he steps aside just in time, turning his head to follow the knife as it flies past him, through the door and embeds itself in the wall next to the door.

He follows Lucifer into the hallway and the hallucination stops outside the room that 'Dean' had gone into. He smiles as he puts his hand on the door handle, turning his head to look at Sam as he winks and asks _"I wonder if Dean will come out to play?"_. Sam loses his cool, he doesn't care what the repercussion for this will be later on, after this game is finished, and he raises his fist. Putting all of his anger into the punch, he lets it lose. Again, Lucifer easily sidesteps the punch, which lands on the door to 'Deans' room. Lucifer smiles again at Sam as he says _"Nice shot. It's almost a shame that I can read your mind Sam..."_

The hallucination is cut off mid-taunt as door is pulled open and a sleepy Dean emerges, asking angrily "What in the hell...?"

The hallucination smiles as it looks from Sam to Dean and then back again _"He doesn't know just how correct he is, does he?"_

Dean looks at Sam waiting for a response and sees his brother shaking and breathing quickly. Sam screams "You leave Dean out this you goddamn son of a bitch!" at thin air.

_'Oh crap'_ is Deans immediate thought, _'he's hallucinating again'_"Sam, hey Sammy look at me?" he asks his brother. He sees the nervous quick movement of Sams eyes as they flicker over to him and then to staring intently at the area where he directed his scream.

"It's not real" Sam says brokenly. He wants this to be real, he's tired of playing these damned games with the devil. He aims for threatening but he's sure that it sounds more like pleading as he points at 'Dean' and tells Lucifer "You leave him out of this. You make him go away." It seems that Lucifer is content to stand back and watch Sam unfurl as he's faced with his brother though, as he's faced with what he so badly wants to be real.

"Sam." Dean tries to channel his inner John Winchester. "Sam, look at me. Feel me, I'm real... I'm solid. If you try to touch him your hand will go right through him." Dean is at a loss for how to help Sam, he notices the cut on his brothers arm and he wonders how he got it. If the pain from that didn't pull Sam back then he not sure what to try next.

Sam is still staring at what he's seeing, but he's looking from that point to Dean, and his eyes keep moving between the two as he says "No. It's too cold. I know you, It's cold, that means this isn't real. I'm not that stupid to fall for it again".

It's like a lightbulb goes off in his mind as Dean suddenly realizes what's wrong. He doesn't want to leave Sam, but he imagines that his brother won't follow him if he asks him to, so he says "Okay, you wait here Sam. I'll be back in a second to prove to you that this is real. Running into the living room, while sparing a glance at his brother standing in the hall every ten seconds, Dean lights fire. He patiently waits for the fire to take effect, pleased when it quickly takes hold. He's been gone from Sam for five minutes, while keeping an eye on his brother through the door. He can see his brother having an argument which escalates into a shouting match with whatever it is that only he can see. _'Lucifer'_Dean guesses.

After he's satisfied that there's enough heat coming from the fire, Dean walks back out into the hallway perfectly happy to interrupt the argument that Sam appears to be having with himself... at least, that's what anyone else would think if they were to see Sam now. Sam quietens down the closer that Dean gets to him, but he still doesn't look in his brothers direction. "Hey Sam, how you doing?" Sam stops talking but still doesn't look at Dean. Hey asks "Sam, can you look at me please?" with an underlying tone of _'please don't be so far gone that you can't'_. Sam looks out the side of his eye at Dean and returns his gaze to his hallucination. Dean loses patience, he won't lose his brother to the devil, it ain't gonna happen, not on his watch. He grabs Sams arm and moves it so that Sams hand touches his chest, right over his heart. "You feel that Sam? You feel my heart beating? I'm the real one, not him". He then moves Sams arm over to where he guesses Sam is seeing Lucifer and moves his hand through the air, up and down and then returns it to Sams side, but he keeps contact with his brother.

Sam looks unsure, he's not sure what to believe, and when Dean moves his arm through Lucifer, the hallucination smiles and says _"You know what I'm capable of. Are you going to believe him over me?"_. Sam shakes his head and looks to the floor. He wants to believe that he's here with Dean, but he's believed it too many times for it all to ripped away just as he starts to trust the fantasy. Lucifer disappears again

"Sam, come with me." Dean says and he lightly tugs on Sams arm, Sam moves with him although he still won't look at him. Dean brings Sam to the front of the fire and wraps the blanket that he'd left on the chair around his brothers shoulders. He starts rubbing his brothers arms to try to warm him up. Sam is shaking his head again like he doesn't believe that this is real, and Dean asks him "Can you feel the heat coming from the fire Sammy?" Sam stops shaking his head and thinks for a minute before nodding. "Then how can you be back in the cage with Lucifer if it's warm here?". He feels Sam jerk in his hold when he asks, and he can see some of the clarity return to Sams eyes. Deciding that it would be better to sit down at the fire to let Sam warm up properly he moves to sit down, and asks Sam to do the same. Sam still looks like her wants to run a mile, but he does as Dean asks and sits beside him on the floor.

Dean is surprised when Sam rests his head on his shoulder, Dean in turn slips his arm around Sams shoulders and starts rubbing his arm to generate warmth. He starts to feel relieved that maybe Sam is coming out of it now, but when Sam speak his hope is dashed. "You know, if this is a trick... it's your cruelest one yet".

"Sam, it's not a tick." Dean answers, he isn't sure what else he can say to his brother at this point.

Sam simply replies "Hope not". His words carry a lot of hope and a little pleading, and Dean is left to wonder just how many times Lucifer played tricks on his brother to make him think he'd escaped. They sit like that for a while, Dean content to bring his brother back to reality, and Sam trying to work out what is real and what's not.

Dean feels moment when Sam comes back to reality, his brother tenses up and then goes limp. He asks "Dean?"

Dean looks down at Sam, who is still resting his head on his shoulder and asks "You okay?"

Sam nods slightly and asks "How long?"

"Couple of hours" is all Dean replies. He wasn't counting, but since the sun is now starting to come up he thinks that's a pretty good guess.

"It's getting worse Dean. It's starting to get longer each time." He's been dreading this since his first hallucination, he's dreading the day when he can't find his way back at all.

Dean replies "It's not, it's just 'cause it was cold this time. That's all" He tries to keep his tone light, keep his fears out of his voice, Sam doesn't need to hear those.

Sam smiles, thankful for Dean constant faith in him "Yeah... Thanks Dean, for pulling me back I mean."

"No problem Sam. That's what I'm here for." Dean looks to the fire and realizes that they're gonna need more wood to keep it going soon. "Hey, I'm just gonna go get more firewood, there's those logs outside."

Dean moves to stand up when Sam quietly says "No" and grabs onto Dean as he asks "Can we just sit here for a while?"

"Yeah Sammy... we can sit here as long as you want little brother."

**_END_**

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><p><strong>AN - **As usual, pleas let me know you thoughts and opinions... Thanks!


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